Ticket
prices: Pph 150 - 200 - 250. For tickets and more info, call Veronica
Villanueva (SPCM Alumnae Office) at 523-4259 / email alumnae@spcm.edu.ph. SPCM HS'77 can also be contacted c/o Class
President Ayie Cruz-Aligada (garp88@pacific.net.ph), Egroup Moderator
Clarissa Carreon (spcm_hs77@hotmail.com) or through their
website atwww.geocities.com/spcm_hs77. To all our 2002
Jubilarian friends, we wish you all the best! End of newsflash.... :o)

Happy new year, Paulinians!
Below is our journal of SPCM HS'75 events and batchmates that made big news in
2001. It's far from comprehensive, being limited only to what came through our
egroup ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spcm_hs75 ). Accompanying pictures and complete
narratives can be viewed by following the links to the SPCM HS'75 website at www.paulinians.com.

Pinky Marquez (UP BSCN '80)
spent late 2000 and early 2001 on the street, fighting for what she believed
was right. A fearless political activist, she was one of the original handful
of showbiz personalities who rallied mass support for People Power / EDSA 2.
Throughout 2001, Pinky's illustrious showbiz career flourished. A mainstay at
GMA7's Aawitan Kita and PTV4's Lutong Bahay, she guested in popular TV shows
including IBC13's Lunch Break, ABS-CBN/TFC's Magandang Tanghali Bayan and
Eight-Tin where she delighted an international audience (including Paulinian
classmates in the US!) as Kristin Hermosa's Mom. In August and September, she
earned rave reviews as lead in one of the world's most acclaimed plays: Eve
Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. The play's director was so impressed, she said
"Pinky Marquez drove all of us crazy with laughter and moved us immensely
with her interpretation of the monologues. If you need personality and talent
you can't go any further than Pinky!" The play the was so popular, it got
extended for one week at the Music Museum! Likewise, her super-talented
globe-trotting music-comedy quartet "The Angfourgettables" thrived --
Pinky, Isay Alvarez, Bimbo Cerrudo and Jorge Javier attracted SRO audiences at
Strumms and Hotel Rembrandt in August, and again in Ocober and November 2001.
They also starred in corporate events like San Beda's Centennial Red And White
Ball, Insular Life's "Hot Stuff @ Hard Rock", and Lungsod ng Makati's
"Miss Makati 2001 Beauty Pageant", among many others. When Pinky
wasn't entertaining, our Ulirang Ina Awardee indulged in her love for creative
aromacandle-making. Her mood candles -- each one a unique wax-of-art -- are hot
items in Metro Manila stores and bazaars like Treasures of the East at Gremel
Bldg on Makati Avenue, and Garden Blooms at Rockwell Powerplant, Makati City. (www.pinkymarquez.homestead.com )

APRIL

Gina Pedro (UP BS Community
Nutrition '79, Michigan State University MS Human Nutririon '83) received her
Ph.D. in Nutrition and Health Policy from UP College of Home Economics in
Diliman. Gina is a Nutritionist at the Department of Science and Technology's
Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Philippines in Manila. (http://paulinian.homestead.com/files/scjune.htm )

JUNE

Susie Crisostomo (UPLB BS Bio
'79, Univ of Newcastle upon Tyne M.Sc. in Applied Entomology '84, Purdue Ph.D.
in Entomology '91) flew to Manila as one of five US Department of Agriculrture
specialists invited to give a seminar on Agricultural Biotechnology Facts,
Fears, and Future Directions to ranking Philippine officials. She visited
Bacolod later that week to advise local sugar industry leaders. A
well-published agricultural scientist, Susie is concurrently a USDA Research
Entomologist and Adjunct Associate Professor at Florida A&M University's
Center for Biological Control in Tallahassee. (http://paulinian.homestead.com/files/scjune.htm )

Janette San Juan-Hernandez
(Philippine School of Interior Design), incumbent National President of Real
Estate Brokers Association of the Philippines, hosted the highly successful
Philippine real estate exhibit booth at the 13th Annual Filipino-American Trade
Show held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California. She owns and
manages International Property Network Inc in Manila and specializes in
selling, buying and leasing (including joint venture transactions) all types of
real estate properties (residential, commercial, office, and warehousing). Her
primary areas of operation are San Juan, Mandaluyong, Ortigas Center, Pasig
City and Murphy side of Quezon City (White Plains, Greenmeadows, Corinthian
Gardens, Valle Verde, Acropolis, Libis) and with her REBAP connections, she can
strongly refer interested parties to reputable brokers anywhere in the
Philippines. (http://paulinians.homestead.com/files/sfjul15.htm )

JULY

Mariechelle "Ching"
Llagas (UP, AB Econ '81) coordinated, publicized, hosted and moderated a
successful fund-raising fellowship with Fr James Reuter and Sr Eva Maamo at the
Philippine Consulate in New York City. Her hard work handsomely paid off -- the
event raised more than $8K for the Foundation of Our Lady of Peace Mission's
Hospital for the Poor in Paranaque. (http://paulinians.homestead.com/files/olpmny.htm )

AUGUST

Rocky Yupangco (St Scho, AB
Psych / English '80) was promoted as the new Marketing Services Manager of
Tetra Pak's BACC Communications in Chicago. A multibillion-dollar company,
Tetra Pak has four business areas -- carton chilled, carton ambient, plastics,
and processing. Wherever you are, next time you drink fresh milk or OJ from the
carton, think of Rocky -- she's now in charge of marketing all carton-chilled
packaging products worldwide. Really awe-inspiring, especially considering that
Tetra Pak is the #1 food and beverage packaging systems company on the planet.
Any idea on how many Tetra Pak containers were distributed worldwide last year?
200 million in 150 countries -- daily! (http://paulinian.homestead.com/files/rock2901.htm )

Angela Arellano (ADMU, AB Comm
Arts ' 79) was featured in The Las Vegas Sun, 8 Aug 2001 edition. A HYATT
Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort Senior Therapist, she was hand-picked to
demonstrate latest techniques during an open massage therapy clinic at the
upscale hotel. Ann owned and operated a spa business in Monterey CA before
relocating to Henderson in late '99 with her family. (http://paulinians.homestead.com/files/annsun.htm )

SEPTEMBER

Louella Albornoz (Maryknoll,
Comm Arts) started her new job as an Instruction Assistant at the South San
Francisco School District in CA. She was chosen from a good line of candidates
and had to pass tough written tests and rigorous multi-level interviews. It was
the first time the district offered such a job because it was also the first
time it took on the challenge of placing a child with Down syndrome in the
regular school system. Louella's job is to help the child cope with the
demands. As Mae wrote, we were all so happy for Louella especially because the
position is her first full-time job now that her four sons are bigger. (http://paulinians.homestead.com/files/sfjul15.htm )

OCTOBER

Our Alma Mater was accredited as
Level III -- the highest any school can receive -- by the Philippine
Association of Accreditors for Schools, Colleges and Universities. The
Commission on Higher Education also granted autonomy to SPCM, SPC Quezon City,
SPU Tuguegarao and. SPC Dumaguete. Autonomous schools are exempt from many
administrative requirements and can offer new courses without special orders.
The Paulinian schools' autonomy started from the second semester of SY 2001-02
and will be in force for five years. (Sources: www.paulinianglobal.com and www.geocities.com/spcm_hs78 )

NOVEMBER

Marie Sciple (Gemological
Insttitue of America, Los Angeles) could have gotten out but instead, chose to
re-enlist in the US Naval Reserves in Nov 2001, out of sheer sense of duty and
inspite of the terrorism-induced apprehensions of friends and family. An
18-year vet, she serves as an Aviation Ordnanceman (bomb loader!) with VR-59
"Lonestar Express" Flying Squadron, NAS Forth Worth Joint Reserve
Base, TX. The formal ceremony took place in one of the unit's C9 jets, the
"Spirit of New York City". When she's not deployed or training with
the Reserves, Marie is a full-time Preferred Customer Programs Coordinator at
Service Experts, a division of Lennox International, the world's air
conditioning/heating industry leader headquartered near Dallas. (http://paulinians.homestead.com/files/serve.htm )

Mae Cendana (UP AIT, BS Tourism
'84) hosted the Fil-Am Club of the Most Holy Rosary Parish's 14th
Annual Black & White Ball at the Hilton Hotel in Concord, CA. The heavily
attended event turned out really well -- parishioners said it was their best
one ever! (http://paulinians.homestead.com/files/sbcxmas.htm )

DECEMBER

Mae Cendana, our San
Francisco-based Ambivalent Crowd and Balahibo Rock Band alumna, headlined the
San Beda High School Class of 1975's Christmas Ball at the La Canada Flintridge
Country Club in Southern California on 1 Dec 2001. Also present were our SPCM
HS'75 batchmates, New York City's Ching Llagas and Los Angeles' Marissa Maceda.
The unanimous Bedan feeling was so articulately summed up by class coordinator,
Joseph Yu: "The Holiday Ball would not have been such a great blast if not
for the performance of your Mae Cendana. We wish we could adopt her as one of
our own! Thank you Mae for gracing us with your presence. " A star is
reborn! (http://paulinians.homestead.com/files/sbcxmas.htm )

I'm very pleased to inform you
that Our Lady of Peace Mission presentation at the Kalayaan Hall on Monday,
July 23, went very well and was very successful. All in all, we were able to
raise a total of more than $8000. Fr. Reuter and Sr. Eva Maamo were very happy.
Fr. Reuter even commented that the quality of the group who attended was
excellent. We had about 96 people as counted by the concierge of the Philippine
Center. I think it is one of the best fund-raising events ever held in the
local Filipino community.

Believe it or not, we got so
many blessings during the preparation. It's apparent God was with us the whole
time. Marie Reyes (wife of Virgilio Reyes, a diplomat in the Philippine
Mission) was my guiding light. We were able to waive the rental fee of the
Kalayaan Hall and also borrow a VCR from the Philippine Tourism Board for free.
We got press coverage before and after the events. We also received 2 cases of
wine free through Lett Llagas Dayao (SPCM HS'65/College '69) which were served
during the cocktail reception. Even Fr. Reuter enjoyed the red wine. Mitzi
Ambion Hocson '75 who traveled all the way from upstate NY was there for moral
support and donated rosaries to give the attendees. The people stayed and
mingled during the reception. Fr. Reuter graciously stayed by the lobby doors
to bid good-bye and to say thank you to each person who attended the event. We
finished promptly at about 9PM, including cleanup.

Yesterday (Wednesday), Fr.
Reuter, Sr. Eva, Mr and Mrs Mario Salazar plus myself paid a courtesy call to
Consul General Linglingay Fonacier Lacanlale. Fr. Reuter presented the project
to her and she promised to pass it on to the Filipino medical associations in
the Tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT).

The FOLPM's Hospital for the
Poor project is not really done yet. In fact, they have a long way to go. The
Foundation still needs medical equipment and cash to maintain the charity
hospital on a continuing basis. But the fact that we were able to help when we
were called upon is such a wonderful feeling. I thank all of those who
contributed to this event, in terms of money and/or in kind. To our friends
from SPCM HS'76, who also sent monetary contribution, thank you very much. To
Marisol Soler Lopez, SPCM HS'78, who relayed to us Fr. Reuter's request for
help in New York City, thank you.

Let's keep the support going...
we are all proud to be Paulinians. Take care, everyone.

Talk of the day: "Cheaper
by the 10s! We had fun listening to Mona relate her stories about her 10
children - 8 boys and 2 girls. She is also a grandmother 4 times now. She says
her older daughter is as feisty and strong like her. She has to be so she won't
be bullied by 6 older boys. The other daughter is 11 months old while her
eldest boy is 22. Her kids are all trained to do household work such as doing
the laundry, washing the dishes, cooking and taking care of their younger
siblings. Wow!" (http://paulinian.homestead.com/files/sf111.htm )

2

BABES REUNION EXPRESS: DALY
CITY TO BELMONT!

01-05-01. Marlou
Huibonhua-Litton's Home. Belmont, CA.

Erika Miranda's report:

Hello classmates!

I think it's best if "biglaan"
ang get-together just like this whole-day thing we had last Friday, the 5th of
Jan. Cecilia, Mitzi, Malu and I had late lunch at Goldilock's in Daly City. As
usual, Mitzi went ballistic and ordered more than she could eat. Ganun din si
Cecilia. Ako, I just ordered gulaman and sago cuz I knew I was gonna end up
helping them finish the food. Pano ba naman, eto ang pinag-o-order na akala mo
walang kinabukasan: Adobong Manok, Pancit Palabok, Fresh Lumpia, Guinataan
halo-halo, Pork Asado and Adobong Pusit. O diba pang FIESTA 'yan? Buti pa si
Malu Santos, one "putahe" only..pero hindi pa rin naubos...sigh*
Malu's son, Joseph was with us, too.

At this point, natawagan na
namin si Mae sa Oakland and she was still undecided. Louella was MIA naman. We
kept getting a busy signal when we were trying to call her kaya we decided to
drop in on her biglaan sa South San Fran. Sabi ni Andrew nasa DayCare across
the street kaya we went ahead and surprised her. Imagine, people entrust their
kids kay Louella??!! J/K sweetie! So we take her back to her house to make
paalam to Andrew. Eh one of her boys had to see a doctor. Being a good mother,
they did exactly that. Pero, teka, wait.....hanggang sa clinic, sinundan namin
siya kasi baka makawala pa! We asked Andrew if it was alright for us to
"kidnap" his wife and you know what he said? He goes, "Please,
wag niyo nang ibalik!" He was getting Louella's housekeys na nga para
maniguradong hindi makapasok sa bahay si Louella, LOL!

Then off to Belmont we went to
visit Marlou Huibonhua. "Impromptu" dinner was great especially with
Louella around to make us choke, gag and spit out our food sa kakatawa. How she
managed to talk and eat at the same time, God only knows. Bobby, Mitzi's
husband, and Hillary, their daughter came by and joined us for a while (kakain
pa daw sila sa Barrio Fiesta). Na-witness nila yung antics nitong si Albornoz.
Shocked na shocked si Hillary when Louella let out a big burp as a reply to one
of the questions asked her. Sabi namin, "What else is new?"

Mae, Dae and Jae (JR actually)
finally arrived at Marlou's. So did Manny, Cecile's husband, and Kathy, their
daughter. We watched the video of the NSync special on HBO while Louella (de
ville) danced and made sabayan the video. Hindi mo mapintahan ang mukha ni Iselle,
Marlou's daughter. In her head, she must have been asking, "Who the heck
is she?" or "Does my mom really know this person?" Kidding
aside, life of the party na naman si Albornoz. Buti nalang day off niya nung
Friday.

I wanted to surprise Zamby whose
birthday on the 19th I completely forgot and was not able to greet her. So I
decided to buy her balloons and a small cake with Happy Birthday Zamby on it.
Problem was I was not able to brake at a hump and the cake fell to the floor.
Ayun, Ha B..d... Zamb na lang ang natira. Bastus na Dolly pa, when she cut the
cake, she took out the Zamb. Eh di walang natira. L

What I completely forgot was
that it was also Pinky's birthday on the 23rd. So you could imagine what I felt
when nagtampo si Pinky. Kasi when I told Zamby to blow the candle, I brought
over the baloons and Pinky asked me whose balloons they were for. I said Zamby.
She pouted and said "The least you could have said was 'sa inyong
dalawa'" So I said, "You want me to lie?" She laughed and said
"No!" So she gamely posed with Zamby and her balloons and then they
both blew the one candle on the chocolate cake. Well, I was able to give Pinky
one rose in a box and that helped ease my guilt of forgetting her birthday.
Because of this, I decided not to give my gift to Zamby cuz I'll never hear the
end of Pinky's sama ng loob sa akin. So I decided to wait for Pinky to leave so
as to buy me time to prepare my gift for Pinky (utang ko pa).

When Pinky left, I gave the gift
to Zamby. It was a small album of pictures taken during our meetings and
reunions. Ang dami ko kasing extra copies. I thought I was out of the woods
until Lia said "Ay! Bakit iyong kay Zamby naka-album? Iyong binigay mo sa
akin, walang album?" Naku! Patay! Para akong nanay. Napakahirap talaga ng
madami ang anak..:o)

We asked Pinky about her
involvement in the EDSA rallies cuz her name was always mentioned on television
and radio. Imagine nagsisigawan sila ni Dettie who was on the flyover and Pinky
who was on ground level. Dettie said, nakikipagaway si Cebuana doon sa isang
driver and she was hitting the car. Pala, both Mari and Pinky were trying to
stop Pinky's mother from fighting with a guy who made a thumbs up sign while
passing EDSA. Sa dinami-dami ba naman ng tao sa EDSA, nagkita pa sila ni Dettie
during that first night. The next night, Pinky say Yeyette and Alice D.
Nakapulupot daw iyong dalawa sa poste ng Meralco shouting "PENKE!
PENKE!" (Sama ng tunog!) "Tawagin mo naman kami when you are on
stage!" Kapal..... mga showbiz talaga.

Asked Beth, "When we were
in high school, kaya mo bang sigawan si Deng ng ganyan?" Beth:
"Hindi! Takot ako diyan eh." Which brings me to the point, that our
age, our teachers do not seem so old anymore the way we thought of them when we
were still in school. We can even tell them our kalokohans.

"Cecile was in Manila for a
whirlwind visit from Northern California. Actually, 'buntot' lang kay Manny,
her husband, when he went on a business trip. One week lang. They arrived on
the 28th of Jan. and were back in Fremont last Sunday, the 4th of Feb. It was a
sudden and short trip so there was no time to coordinate with other friends. In
fact, urong-sulong sila cuz of the situation then. They finally pushed through
with the plans when Erap stepped down...takot yung mga American execs na kasama
ni Manny sa trabaho. Kung alam lang nila...FIESTA atmosphere nung PPII...!
Looking at their smiles, classmates attending the get-together had a grand
time... Actually they just ran into Ditas and her friend and asked them join
the group for lunch at Kapelikula... Inabot daw sila doon hanggang 5PM!"
Was it the company or the setting? Must be both! (http://paulinian.homestead.com/files/kapelikula.htm )

We got a sort of a mabilisang
invitation from Florian who just called us to attend the party. It turned out
she was so busy entertaining her foreign guests that she only had time to call
us once and then off she went na to the beach. Well, we were still able to
gather quite a few classmates.

What made this night so fun was
that Florian got the Spirit of the 80s band to play that night. Eh puro 70s
songs. We really missed Mae Cendana and Pinky Marquez who would have just loved
singing with the band. Galing nila! And of course, missed Malu Santos, Beth
Reyes, Alice Dizon, and Erika Miranda, who know this band very well since they
play at Kiko's Bar in Makati.

Highlight of the show of course
was Mr. Nilo "Birthday Boy" Nequinto who sang with the band. Give na
give siya! Say kasi niya, "Ngayon ko lang magagawa ito at birthday
ko...." He did several disco songs with them and I tell you, Nilo was a
revelation. Kaya pala niyang mag-banda....

Eto na, in between the sets,
they played 70's songs pa rin. And your galing classmates couldn't help but
dance in their seats. Sabi ni Zamby..."Ayan,nagsasayaw na ang mga
disabled!" During the second set, nagwala na ang mga kaibigan niyo. Dettie
said "Basta, hindi kami aalis dito kung hindi tutugtugin ang Rock the
Boat." So due to popular demand, the band played it. Akala niyo ba umupo
na si Dettie? Hindi.... sayaw pa rin sila ni Tom. When it came to that song
from Bagets, iyong erase the blackboard step, dinagdagan namin ng mop the
floor, wash the dishes, do the laundry, and iron the clothes. Finale.... eh di
ano pa... YMCA! And we were all there in front of the band, doing our usual
YMCA. We stayed until 12 mn. (http://paulinian.homestead.com/files/nilo2301.htm )

Cecile who lives in Fremont, 40
miles away, volunteered to pick me up and my daughter, Dae. Unable to drive
because of surgery done two weeks ago, I was so grateful to get out of the
house. It was a beautiful but chilly day. We were to rendezvous with Erika,
Lisa (Pita's daughter) and Marlou who was celebrating her birthday. Marlou's
place was another 40 miles away and the traffic didn't help much because it
took us a good hour to get there. By the time we did, the three ladies were
already waiting for us at the door. We didn't even get to go inside the house
because Erika said "GUTOM NA GUTOM NA 'KO! Let's go!"

So, we proceeded to downtown
Belmont where we had dimsum at Marlou's favorite Chinese restaurant. As soon as
we got seated, we took almost anything offered at sight: siomai, tofu,
spareribs, shrimps in bellpeppers, eggplant, sesame balls, fried rice and HAKAW
(our word for the day). For dessert, it had to be the famous mango pudding.
Overall rating: SUPER-SARAP! We went back to Marlou's to have coffee and guess
what? Munch some more. We went through two cakes, a box of mango squares, a bag
of chips and leche flan.

Rocky was taking a much-deserved
breather from her job as Chicago-based Marketing Services Manager job of global
packaging systems leader, Tetra Rex Inco. Sunny wrote: "Zamby decided to
play hostess during the bienvenida at Lia's house by bringing most of the food.
kare-kare, plapla and ginataang shrimp. Lia naman prapared lumpia for one whole
baranggay. Buti na lang I scaled down to siomai and buchi. Florian brought a
cake and Marisa, sans rival." Yum! (http://paulinian.homestead.com/files/rock2901.htm )

Not really sure how we all fit
into my living and dining room but we did squeeze in. First time for Joyce and
Dave to attend a reunion in my house so it was a good thing they had the good
sense of humor to survive Yeyet and Erika.

Lunch was served and we had
lumpiang bangus shanghai, barbecue, fried pancit canton, embotido made by my
ever-faithful, ever-true Yaya Alma. Bina could not come but she sent over (or
rather Malu picked it up) chicken curry. Zamby brought her signature dilis and
(nag-doble) buko-pandan. We had a total of 5 cakes - 2 chocolate cakes (one was
baked specially by Cecilia Revilla-Schulz), one carrot cake, one pine-apple
upside-down cake (again by Cecilia) one refrigerator cake (prepared by Yeyet's
daughter) and one mango creme pie. On top of that we also had my buko pandan
with sago (which Ta-da!!!! I made), sapin-sapin and my yaya's guinataan. Malu S
brought turon while Marisa brought pastries from Dulcinea.

Eto na! Yeyet's refrigerator
cake was right smack in the middle of our table. Louie wanted to taste it but
Mother Erika warned him that Yeyet brought the cake. Despite Yeyet's protest
that her daughter made it, Erika said "Louie! Remember the stories about
your Tita Yeyet! Remember!!!!" So we said "Oo nga, baka may laway yan
ni Yeyet." We didn't know that Alexa, Lia's daughter, was already eating
it. And when she heard us talking about it, she froze and just looked at all of
us cuz we were all staring at her. Anyway, Louie knew we were just teasing
Yeyet so he decided na tapusin ang kaniyang inumpisahan. So he got a
"small" piece. Ewan ko nga lang if he ate it.:o)

Yambi arrived and talks shifted
to the EDSA TRES rally. FYI, Yambi was right smack in the middle of the crowd
at EDSA. So she gave us a narrative of the "surrender" or was it an
"arrest"? She also told us that what you saw on TV was not precise
cuz when the soldiers came to "arrest" ERAP, that was just the tip of
the iceberg. The whole Ortigas Aveue was filled with troops. Di daw natin
nakita iyon. She was in EDSA until someone told her that they were marching to
Malacanang. She doesn't know who gave the order but everyone just followed. And
you guys already know the rest of the story. I left them for a while to make
coffee and when I came back, Yambi was appealing to me cuz "Sunny!!!
Pinagtutulungan ako dito!" Well, I did warn her before she came over.
Siyepre may die-hard anti-Erap dito no. So I said "OK, no more discussions
about politics. Tama na." Sabi ni Dolly, "Di pwede! She has to answer
my question first." Never found out what that question was cuz I really
didn't want a continuation of the rallies in my house. :o)

Before Joyce and Dave left, we
had another picture-taking and this time, Erika wanted an "ugly-face"
picture. So some of us did as requested but bungisngis Joyce just couldn't do
it and she said "I don't know how!!!" Erika shouted "Don't
worry, Joyce! Just don't do anything, OK ka na." Buti na lang Dave didn't
hear it. Well, Joyce was taking too long to say her good byes and Dave was
already waiting for her outside. So told Dave he had to go back in, pull Joyce
out and leave. Then we remembered we didn't have a single picture with Dave so
we all "ganged up" on him. But he ended up with Joyce on his lap....

The party ended at 10 pm.
Nagsisigawan na naman sa kalsada. You know, I am still eating the left-over
dessert until now. Must have gained back all the weight I lost last month. Oh
well.....

Lastly, Dave mentioned to the
guys that he has never seen a group come together after so many years and still
have as much fun as we do.

Hello friends and classmates,
it's me, Erika! It may be a little too late but I've decided to
"bore" you guys with kuentos about my trip to Manila (with Tony and
Louie of course) last May. I was asked to be "ninang" (sponsor) to
one of Tony's nieces wedding...waaah!!! I almost choked! Ganun na talaga ako
ka-tanda! Imagine me wearing a gown..yuck!!! It was a good thing the color
motif was blue so I kinda looked smaller or at least that's what it felt like.
The wedding took place in Tagaytay.

Next was that trip to Dos Palmas
in Palawan. We really enjoyed that trip. Just look at the photos naman. Pati
yung asawa ko, enjoy kahit mga "whales" and "dolphins" ang
kasama. At first I didn't want to wear a bathing suit. But after some coaxing,
I just had to wear one. I actually didn't take one with me simply cuz I DON'T
OWN one. With a body like mine, would you even dare buy one? But it was just my
luck cuz Malu Santos had 2 extra swimsuits. Why? Ask her nalang. Balak yatang
mag fashion show doon. Unfortunately, walang nagkasya kasi malaki siya sa akin.

Pero, teka, wait, for a while
and a minute, sandali! Zamby also made baon an extra swimsuit. ALAS! Nagkasya
sa akin. It's not that Zamby is as fat as me. It was actually her sister's daw.
So in all fairness to Zamby, my good friend (sip-sip..baka wala ng Gourmet
Tuyo!), malaki naman ako kaysa sa kanya! I had to wear the bathing suit pero
covered na covered naman ako a la Muslim.

Come to think of it, we were
there 2 weeks before that Abu Dos Palmas kidnapping... waaaahh!!! I was
actually recommending the place to all my friends and relatives when I got back
to Manila and back to SF, too. LINTEK... that could have been us! Good if Alice
D was there; she could at least "negotiate" for us.... :o) (Hi Alice!
Asalaamalaikum... peace!) (http://paulinian.homestead.com/files/palawan.htm )

10

PAULINIAN KARAOKE NITE!

15 May 01. IO Karaoke TV Bar,
Makati City.

Sunny's story:

Last night, we discovered a new
way to harness the talents and energy of our batch. We went to IO KTV, a
karaoke bar on Jupiter St in Bel Air.

Erika, Florian, Marisa, and I
had dinner first at La Taverna with Nilo and Kiko. Then Daisy and hubby, Ted,
dropped by. We (except for Marisa) then proceeded to IO and met up with Beth R,
Malu S, friend Glecy Cua So (SPCM HS' 73). Janette followed and finally Dr.
Myrna. Since it waso ur first time to do this thing, mali-mali ang pindot sa
controls. I was tasked to study that darned thing and finally got the hang of
it after deleting everything we entered into the "jukebox" several
times. Wow, noong una, nagkakahiyaan pa. But noong nag-init na, hindi na maawat
ang mga songers. :o)

Nilo was his usual crazy self.
The "Rocker", the "Band Singer" (cuz of his choice of songs
na puro jamming and pang-banda). What many of us did not know is that he does a
mean interpretation of a gay. Talagang totoong-totoo. He even did a bakla dance
complete with giling and face the wall. Teka muna! Florian, sabihin mo na ang
katotohanan. Anong ginawa mo kay Nilo ang biglang nagladlad. Well, I guess
being closely associated with our batch (Nilo being present in a lot of our
affairs), something had to give.

Janette is no longer just the
disco queen, Karaoke queen na rin siya. Dr. Myrna not only sang, she even
danced. Florian, maski shy (she would rather have Nilo as the center of
attraction) also sang softly. Sayang, Daisy was singing Simply Jessie, nasira
iyong song but she was still humming sa sidelines. Malu is also a revelation.
Give na give. That's what happens when you hang around Manong for so long. Beth
asked me to look for Cocomo, nasa letter K pala. Ay! Foor sa sfelling si Sunny.
Kaka-text KC.

O ayan! Meron na naman tayong
na-discover. We had so much fun, that we ended up at 2 a.m. That's all for now.
Mae, bukang bibig namin...."Sayang ! Wala si Mae...."

It was a fun-filled day last
June 30 when 15 members of SPCM HS Classes of '75, '78, '79 and '80 met for the
first Bay Area All-Paulinian Reunion in San Francisco. BeeAnn Kabigting '79,
Ching San Andres '80 and Dada San Andres '79 came all the way from LA to attend
the event.

Music was provided by the San
Andres sisters, Lisa '79 and Ching '80, who sang songs from vintage Jingle mags.
Ching gave away custom CD-Rs filled with 70's songs like "Terminal",
"So Far Away" and "Afternoon Delight" as party favors to
everyone. Soon enough, the former glee club members led by party organizer
Audrey Cendana '79 sang the Paulinian Hymn a cappella. While some singers were
concentrating on their alto notes, the others tried to hold back tears. Later,
I sang "It's the Real Thing" while carrying a 2-liter Diet Coke - a
legacy I have to live by but had to revise, just like Madonna. ;-)

As always, Louella Albornoz '75
brought the house down with her antics and impromptu stand-up act. Sofie Rola
'78 fell off her chair when Louella recalled scenes from her first
"real" job at Pizza Hut - cooking pizza without cheese, getting stuck
in the walk-in freezer, filling the kitchen with bubbles when she poured too
much detergent in the dish-washer, trying to stop her workers from shooting
each other ("Stop or I'll call Immigration!"). Carol Sevilla '79 and
Roxanne Lagdameo '79 kept asking Louella why she looked so familiar to which
Louella answered, "Oh yes, my latest film was Erin Brockovich but you
probably saw me first in Basic Instinct!" (Actually, Louella's latest film
appearance was in an NSYNC music video. Click here to visit our LAFF page.)

Of course, there had to be
dancing - El Bimbo, Salsa, Swing, Grind, etc. While Lisa Cendana '78 and BeeAnn
Kabigting '79 beamed with pride as their daughters (Jackie and Holly,
respectively) danced, the feeling was not apparently mutual when the moms hit
the dance-floor. Typical? :o)

Susan Fernandez '78 kept
disappearing during the pictorials; we had to wait for her each time before her
hubby, Bugsy, took the pictures. Although they admitted having fun, guess we
made the husbands Bugsy and Jed (Eleanor's) rethink their fantasies of being
the only two men in a room full of women... :o)

It's funny how some of us who
did not cross paths in high school can relate to the same stories. It must have
been the pleated uniform, the individual qualities of the nuns, the horrible movie
about abortion, the different mannerisms of our teachers, the perverts lurking
outside the school or the smell of fish balls at the cafeteria... Whatever it
was, there was something that bound us together; something unique, something we
can say is ours alone -- something distinctly Paulinian! To find out, I guess,
we'll have to do it again...

And we will. See you at the next
reunion!

Kathleen Niguidula's recap:

In any Paulinian party the food
is always great, and the June 30 reunion was no exception. The professional
chef-husband of Michelle Cendana '80 prepared the mouth-watering main entrees
and the girls even brought in more. There was so much on the table -- eating
was non-stop from 2pm till 2 am!

Louella Albornoz '75, the
veteran movie comedienne, is as funny as ever! Among her many Louellaisms, she
said she's presently an "oncallogist". A full-time wife and doting
Mom of 4 young sons, Dr L (for laughter!) loves being always on-call, just
waiting for her part-time work to phone and beg her to go in. :o)

The Glee Club girls brought
their guitars and they sang and brought back so many memories from our high
school days. They can still perform and do a very nice blending of voices, you
would think they are in a competition...!

The dancing can't be scratched
out too. All the steps of the late 70's and early 80's are so well remembered!

We would like to thank Michelle
for hosting this reunion and of course the rest of the Cendana Sisters for
making this reunion a memorable one, the San Andres Sisters and BeeAnn
Kabigting-Avecilla for flying in from Los Angeles, the rest of the girls from
South San Fran, Richmond, Pleasanton, San Jo and Hercules for being there and
contributing to the fun. Thanks also to Ching San Andres for putting together a
wonderful cd of the 70's and 80's hit songs and giving each one of us a copy...
Thank you, everyone!

We had a casual dinner in honor
of Susie Crisostomo yesterday evening (June 11) at Dencio's at the Fort in
Makati. It was a night of good food, good fun and great laughter -- especially
with the comic antics of Beth, animated stories of Zamby on their recent
sojourn to Dos Palmas, the funny quips and punch-lines of Sunny, and orig quips
of Malu Santos. To top it all, Malu almost choked on sago syrup, and Florian
was all blushy as "Texas" was mentioned -- causing more laughter!

A US Dept of Agriculture
research scientist and Florida A&M University associate professor, Susie
was in town as part of the USDA team advising the Philippine Secretary of
Agriculture and other local officials on biotechnology. Big honor -- congratulations
Susie!

Speaking of big honor,
congratulations as well to Dr. Gina Pedro (UP BSCN '79, Michigan State MSHN
'83)! She just received her Ph.D. in Nutrition from UP. Wow!

Report #2 (Thanks, Sunny!):

We were 8 all in all plus 1
hubby, as Myrna mentioned above. Dinner was at the newest addition to the
Dencio's chain at the Fort in Makati. They serve Filipino food and their
specialty - SISIG! If you have balikbayan friends, bring them to Dencio's.

We all trickled in cuz traffic
was, as usual, bad in Makati area. Took Myrna 1 hour from Ayala to the Fort.
Iba naman ang rason ni Zamby. She was covering the books of her pamangkins daw
kaya sila na-late.

Anyway, Beth and Zamby took
turns in relating their experiences at Dos Palmas (about 2 weeks before the Abu
Sayyaf abductions at that same resort). Turns out that Zamby, Alice, Malu and
Beth were roommates. One banyo lang. And since Beth was the unofficial hostess
of the affair, siya ang palaging huli sa banyo. Ang mga bruha daw, ang
iniwanang towel sa kaniya eh "twalyita." I guess bimpo lang ang
natira sa kaniya.

"Eh tingnan mo naman ang
laki ng katawan na ito. Twalyita ang pangtuyo." Alice became the queen of
the banyo cuz she filled it up with all her beauty paraphernalia. So Malu's
ended up on the floor and Beth said that the only thing she was able to squeeze
into the banyo was a toothbrush. Believe it or not!

BTW, congratulations are in
order. We have a new Doctor in the batch. Gina P successfully defended her
dissertation and now has a Doctorate in Nutrition. So we took a picture of the
4 Paulinian doctors that night - Dr. Susie C (Ph.D. Entomology from Purdue),
Dr. Myrna S (MD from DLSU), Dr. Gina P (Ph.D. Nutrition from UP) and Dr.
Florian N, (DVM from UP -- "hayop na doctor/doctor ng hayop", joked
hubby Dr Nilo N, UP DVM). Sayang, dapat lima sila if Dr. Annabelle Isaac (MD
from UPCM and Harvard) was with us; she had to rush back to her medical
director job in Massachusetts earlier that morning.

Nadine, or Adie de Villa was our
classmate in Grade School. She was also our Grade School Student Council
President. If she hadn't transferred to St. Scho for high school, she would
probably have been our HS Student Council President, instead of moi...

She was in town for 2 weeks to
take care of her mom who had an eye operation. Over the phone, she sounded
serious being an operations manager of a big Australian government institution
engaged in housing. Anyway, Marisa Martinez and I met up with her and had fun
reminiscing about SPCM and De La Salle days.

She lent me a picture of our
Kindergarten play that showed the Siamese dancers which included Maisa
Enriquez, Regina Goni and Lia Jovellanos. She also lent me a Field day
Presentation picture that had Annabelle Isaac, Patty Hidalgo, Marilen Reyes,
May Gaite and Edith Rianzares. Nakakatuwa.

Then we got to talking about La
Salle. There was this guy you decided to tell our fortunes. He said that one of
us will not marry, one will marry and the other one will marry twice. So Adie
and I looked at each other and said "O sigue, Sino sa atin and dalawa ang
asawa?" Adie said "Ikaw siguro. I just got married." And I said,
"Iyang mga late bloomers nga ang dalawa ang asawa." So we told Marisa
"Sigue na Marisa, Get married na so that the hula will not happen."

Funny thing was that more than 5
years ago, I took a picture of the three of us in Adie's house and then I took
another picture of us in the same spot. Alam n'yo bang, halos walang pinag-iba?
So, does that mean na we didn't age or does it mean, walang improvement? See
for yourself. (http://paulinians.homestead.com/files/nadine.htm )

14

ANN RABE IN CANADA!

24 Jun 01. Surrey, British
Columbia.

Ann Rabe and family recently
relocated to the Vancouver suburb of Surrey. As luck had it, her new home was a
short walk away from that of Mona Trinidad and family. Mona wasted no time in
inviting Ann to her only daughter, Monica's 5th birthday
celebration. So now SPCM HS'75 has two VIPs: Mona Trinidad-Millena and Ann
Rabe-Zulueta - Vancouver's Incomparable Paulinians! (http://paulinians.homestead.com/files/nadine.htm )

Ditas will be leaving for Manila
this Sunday after more than a two-month stay in the US. Yesterday, Louella,
Erika, Ditas and I were joined by Lisa (Pita's eldest) and Erika's family for a
TGIF night at Erika's place. Lisa, who is celebrating her birthday tomorrow,
baked an apple cake; it took Ditas and Louella about 5 servings before they
finally figured the taste of it... ;-)

Do you know that Ditas wears two
watches? The on her left wrist has US time, the one on the right has Manila
time. Good idea, di ba? She videotaped part of the evening's raucus which features
Erika on the guitar and the rest of us singing the SPCM song "Here We
Are" and other 70's hits like "Best of My Love" and
"Killing Me Softly". Sunny, you have to get a copy; it'll be another
keeper for our archives!

Mae

Erika's kuwento:

... I found out that Ditas
Santos was in town and we were fortunate enough to get together... Anyway, as
Ditas was telling her about her buhay-buhay, I noticed she was crushing the
soda can with one hand. I quickly gave her a squeeze ball para yun nalang ang
i-squeeze niya! Then it was Mae's turn, then Lisa's....oh boy! It was a good
thing I gave each of them something to squeeze to release their
stress/galit....hahahaha!!! Sunny, remember that turtle na pillow with matching
baby turtle I got at the tiangge at the Fort? I gave the large one to Ditas,
the small one to Lisa and Mae ended up with the ball. Why do you think I have a
lot of those things handy? Hmmmmmmm...... :o) (http://paulinians.homestead.com/files/sfditas.htm )

SPCM HS'78 valedictorian and
prominent pathologist Dr Michelle So was in San Francisco for a surprise visit.
She was warmly welcomed by Mae and Lisa Cendana, and SBCHS'75's George Sityar
(our SPCM HS Glee Club's choreographer when we won second place in the San Beda
Choral Competition in '78). Mae wrote, "George visited (me) at the same
time Michelle was in SF. After a spicy Thai lunch, we cooled off at legendary Fentons's
Ice Cream in Piedmont. We were watching our diets and so, ended up splitting a
banana split! ;o)" (http://spcmhs1975.homestead.com/spcmhs77.html )

Brenda flew into LV Sat/17Nov
all the way from UK. We hooked up on Tu/20Nov and spent all day shopping to the
groans of our hubbies: Paul, Lady B's Texas-born hubby who speaks w/ a
vedy-vedy propah English accent & Jes, who ended up chauffering all of us
throughout!

Unang stop namin was Costco
where she bought a Wine Book -- they're wine connoiseurs and harbor a wine
cellar at home. Tapos we had lunch in a Thai Rest. Jes left us after lunch
dahil he'd to get da kids from school & was to be home to receive our
scheduled table delivery. Next was Borders Bookstore for more books...kita nyo,
hanggang ngayon, libro pa din ang trip ni Lady Brenda. Punta kami sa
House2Home, a store dat was going out of biz kase I wanted to see if there were
some home furnishings I cud buy on sale. Meron nga... at da item was a
basurahan! Yung type kong trash can was white opaque dat I needed to buy for da
guest rm w/c Mae & kids were going to use in 2days time! Kase, nasa topmost
shelf at parehong bonsai kami ni B so naghanap ako ng tulong. Sa tagal
dumating, I got a shepherd's hook to pull down the basura & I told B to be
ready to catch it! Dumating naman in da nick of time yung store associate who
got it for us. Sabi ni B sa 'kin "So this is what you do on your days
off!" Sabay tawa dahil I looked so ridiculous holding the metal hook
trying to bring down the trash can -- nang dahil kay Mae C yan para may basura
yung room nya.

Th/22Nov: Dating na ang unang
Golden Girl, si Mae & kids, Dae and JR (with Ann at the Bellagio, left).
Jes picked them up nd sa bahay na sila muna where they napped a bit. Nagkita na
kami after I got home from work then we had our Tksgiving Dinner later. We went
to the Strip after to walk out our kabusugan.

Fr/23Nov: Mae & Brenda go
out to the Strip all day long while Ann worked. Buti na lang Jes was available
to drive for them & they had time to catch up w/ ea other. Punta sila sa
Caesar's Palace at Venetian after a Buffet Lunch in Sunset Station. They wen't
home kase si Dae got a little fever & her throat was hurting. Sabi ni Mae,
galing daw mag-drama si Dae kase sya ang biglaang na-masahe ko instead of Mae!
The 3 of us talked non-stop & I was able to unearth the older yearbook
where Brenda had a chance to look at our batch's faces. Mae updated her on
everyone naman. Tawag naman si Maddy at kinausap kaming lahat -- wait daw for her
kase she's flying to L.A. Sat/24Nov & will fly to LV to join us.

Later, we took JR w/ us to
Sunset where he played some slots while Mae & I went to watch/listen to a
lounge act. Memories si Mae dahil the band coincidentally sang a song w/c
summarized her life kaya ayan, feel nya ang song, start to finish... Talk about
very impromptu happenings - we just went where our feet would take us &
stay up late till 4AM. Eh I'd to go to work pa, noh?

Back to Maddy: During the phone
conversation, sabi nya kay Mae, "Don't leave LV, that's a direct
order!" Si Brenda naman, nanghinayan dahil she doesn't want Maddy to spend
too much just to come to LV & leave shortly. Sabi ni Maddy, "She
doesn't know how I operate, well I'm coming." Bilib naman ako, she did
everything to come & see Brenda. I came home from work Sat evening &
called Brenda to tell her na I'll take a shower & nap before Maddy flies
in. I ended up sleeping longer & Jes picked up Brenda & they both
picked up Maddy from the airport coz Jes didn't know how Maddy looked like.
Ginising na lang ako ni Jes mga 10pm when they were home na. Sabi ko kay Maddy
when I saw her, "Dyos ko, wala na akong dugo! Di na ako sanay ng late
nites at sunod-sunod ang late nites ko, aba, I need a transfusion na."
Kodakan na naman kami siempre w/ Maddy at home. Eh she'd to fly back to LA at
6am Sun/25Nov so u gehls can imagine she spent a couple of hours in LV
(10pm/Sat till 5am/Sun) just to see Brenda...talk about friendship. Bow ako kay
Maddy who would go to great lengths to see her dearest friend.

Napa-allnighter 'tong si Lady B
dahil she ended up accompanying Jes drive Maddy back to the airport 5am dahil
tulog, pagod at puyat na 'ko by then. I'd told them na when I get home Sun.
from work, I'll just crash & all I want to see is the back of my eyeballs.
Kaya, eto, ngayon pa lang ako bumabawi ng tulog & I couldn't appreciate my
days-off more. Jes took Brenda back home at 6am na. (That's Jes with Mae and JR
at Bally's, above.)

Now Brenda is definitely
returning to LV next year, arriving Saturday before Tksgiving & departing
Monday after Tksgiving. 1 year ahead pa lang, I'd like to arrange a reunion of
sorts in LV around the time Brenda is here. If we are to stage a CA reunion w/
her, let me know so I can make plans to take her to SFO and/or LAX, most likely
1 place lang, either No. or So. Cal, kundi hectic 'to flying and/or driving
LV-SF-LA during Tksgvng Week.

The San Beda Ball was a big
success, a warm congratulations to their organizers, most especially to their
over all director, George Sityar and manager, Joseph Yu. All I can say is
Marissa, Mae and I felt like 16 again, twas like preparing to go to a soiree or
a party, but this time to a ball. A week before, we were discussing via email
what to wear since it's formal and two days before, we were talking about
having our nails polished during our lunch hour at work. We exchanged emails
probably 6 to 8 times the day before I left for LA.

Saturday, Dec 1. Mae and I
started dressing up for the ball at about 2 PM since we have to be at the venue
early. We are riding with George, the overall producer and director of the
show. Like 27 years ago, Mae and I checked on each other's make up, hair and
garb but this time we also have to check on flabs and some wrinkles on our
faces. Mae looked fantastic in her black gown. If you like to lose pounds,
ladies....think of Mae. You have to wonder how she maintained that youthful
figure after all these years. Then you get mad and say you can do it, too! Tell
me if it works. Let her be our inspiration.

At the ball, it was nice to see
the "boys" and their spouses all dressed up. The "boys"
were in their tux and the ladies in beautiful gowns. Marissa Maceda came with
her husband Romy. It was our second time to meet since our Silver Jubilee ball
at the Polo Club in 2000. This time we were all more familiar with each other
and we joked all throughout the night. All I know is we all danced to the sound
of Electric Slide altogether with gusto.

Regarding Mae's
performance.....she hasn't lost her touch! Mae just charmed the audience with
her voice, stage presence and especially her endearing personality. She sang 4
songs. The first one is Captain and Tenille's "Do That To Me One More
Time", then followed by a recent hit called "Hit 'Em Up In Style by
Blue Cantrell" (which delighted the teenagers in the audience) and then
the Donna Summer Medley. Sa Donna Summer Medley, there were 4 couples who
danced a choreographed number while she sang. It was really a very entertaining
number. Her last song was with the Bedans and it was a Christmas song, "Have
Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". Sa last song, wala na ang cape, the
gown was now accentuated with a pair of long black gloves. Very dramatic ang
dating and very touching ang song.

All in all, the Bedans did a
great job. My achievement of the evening...I was given general absolution by
Fr. Ed Africa so now I can receive Holy Communion without having gone to
confession. :o)

So that's it for now... Hope you
all have a nice holiday. Maligayang Pasko sa inyong lahat.

SPCM was born in 1912 and will
be 90 years old come the New Year, 2002. And she continues to stand tall and
proud. Not only was she given a 5-year accreditation status by PAASCU and Level
III by FAAP for the Nursing, Commerce Accountancy and Arts/Sciences Programs;
she is one of the Higher Education Institutions given a status of autonomy from
the CHED together with other Paulinian schools: SPU, SPCQ, SPCD. SPC, Iloilo
was given a de-regulated status.

Thank you to all of you,
Sisters, teachers (current and past), alumnae, parents, benefactors, for having
helped make SPCM what it is now! A part of the year-long celebration is the
search of the oustanding/distinguished alumnae who have made a difference, the
Paulinian way, in the different fields. Recognition will be given them at the
end of the celebration in December.

Please come and get nomination
form from the Academic Afairs or the Alumnae Office. Deadline for submission of
nominees will be on or before September 15, 2002.